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MAGIC 2010: Super-smart robots wanted for international challenge

Instructions for obtaining application materials and for correct submission are contained on this website www.dsto.defence.gov.au/MAGIC2010/.

13.1 Initial Submissions – 2nd October 2009

All initial applications must be received by challenge organisers no later than 5:00pm EST on Friday, 2nd October 2009. All parts of the application must be received by challenge organisers before the specified deadlines for a team to become eligible for participation in the challenge. Materials received after their respective deadlines will not be considered and will be destroyed.

The initial submission should consist of five (5) parts and be in the following format:

Technical Submission
For
[Title, Organization]
Point of contact details (Team Leader):
Name, email address, phone number, mailing address
Alternate POC, email address, phone number, mailing address
1 Technical Proposal (not to exceed 15 pages).
a. Abstract
b. Introduction
i. Statement of the problem.
ii. Conceptual solution proposed
iii. Graphic overview of overall systems architecture
iv. Work breakdown and milestones
c. Ground vehicle component & systems
d. UVS autonomy & coordination strategy (by task)
e. Sensors, processing & mapping for UGVs
f. Operations in GPS-denied environments
g. Processing and fusion of provided Metadata (from UAV)
h. Human-machine interface (HMI)
i. Operational approach/missions operations strategy
j. Risk reduction strategy
i. EMI/RFI & electrical
ii. Vibration & physical
iii. Modelling & Simulation
iv. Safety, E-Stop, Freeze & lost-link
v. Communications architecture
vi. Spectrum plan & usage
vii. Test Plan
k. Summary.
2 A written summary describing [Not to exceed 5 pages]:
Source of resources and budget, sponsorship (if applicable), team composition
(organisations), personnel and experience, and facilities
3 Enclosure A: A video showing current research projects
4 Enclosure B: Certificate of Team Funding & Support
A: The certificate of funding and support is a declaration from the applicant confirming where the funding and support for the development of the system is coming from whether the total support is provided by the company or the sponsors who so ever they may be. Please write down a certification of the source of support and funding.
5 Enclosure C: Site Visit Liability Statement.
A: We will provide you with the 'Deed of Clearance' statement which is currently being developed . This is important for teams that will be down selected to last 10.
Signature of Team Leader & Date

 

13.2 Site Visits & Technical Presentations (2-13 November 2009)

Teams will be notified of their down selection to host a site visit by 19 October 2009.

Ten teams will be asked to host site visits in November 2009. They will be expected to provide more detailed technical presentations lasting an hour. This will be followed by up to an hour of questions. Teams will also be allowed a further two hours to demonstrate any current autonomous or UGV research/technology relevant to MAGIC 2010.

Presentations are expected to focus on convincing the TAP that teams have a good extant  knowledge of: autonomous unmanned ground vehicle design; multi-UGV autonomy and coordination; signal, sensor and image processing; navigation and mapping; processing and fusion from the simulated UAV feed; situational awareness and information fusion; human-machine interfaces; and mission operations relevant to the challenge.

In addition to the information in Initial Submission, the presentation should also include:

• Justification for (phased) expenditure of the $100,000 from the contract
• A description of a phased plan of execution for the challenge mission
• An explanation of the key operational tasks/techniques for:
  o Level of human UGV interaction should be highlighted for each task
  o Autonomous target hand-over between sensor & disruptor UGVs
  o Automatic target detection, classification and recognition
  o Collaborative target tracking and target cross-cueing
  o Determination of cleared buildings and phase areas
  o Automatic/optimal route planning for the UGVs
  o Communications relay (if appropriate)

All teams invited to give technical presentations to the TAP in November 2009 must also apply for a DUNS (Data Universal Number System) number (available from http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform) and once received complete CCR (Central Contracts Registration) registration (available from http://www.ccr.gov/), which will enable them to become a research contractor to the organisers should they be short listed. The CCR Registration should be submitted no later than 26 October 2009. Any questions on the CCR/DUNS registration or contracting process should be directed to Ms. Michi Sawa at:

US Army International Technology Center Pacific (ITC-PAC),
Akasaka Press Center,
Tokyo, Japan
(Telephone: +81-3-6385-3453

Email: michi.sawa@us.army.mil).

13.3 Site Visits (June 2010)

At the site visit in June 2010 the TAP will evaluate progress towards proposed objectives. During this visit, teams will also be expected to demonstrate a range of UGV functionality that includes the integration of ground truth systems, E-stop and “freeze” termination mechanisms for their UGVs. Emphasis will be given to partial or complete demonstrations of each of the detection, recognition, identification, localisation and neutralisation** tasks. Partially or fully functional user interfaces will also be evaluated for integration of the mobile OOI indicator data into a situational awareness display. Method of multi-UGV control and UGV collaboration will also be discussed in detail.

** Please note: Neutralise** - does not imply weaponise